One Nation, Under God

Mustangs nearly make state

Despite entering the Northern B Divisional as the third seed of District 2B, the Mustangs were the last 2B team standing last Saturday evening in Malta.

The Mustangs went 2-2 at the tournament and were 10 points shy of punching a ticket to the State B Tournament later in March.

"We finished the year well and it was definitely our best weekend of basketball and that's all you can ask for," Malta Head Coach David Costin said. "I am proud of the kids. It was a good effort. We did not lack effort."

The Fairfield Eagles defeated the Shelby Coyotes 54-34 in the Northern B Championship last Saturday night.

The Mustangs fell 50-41 to the Rocky Boy Northern Stars earlier that day in the consolation finals.

Malta lost their first game of the tournament against the Shelby Coyotes on Thursday, February 27. The score was 50-46. The Mustangs were led by Connor Tuss who had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

The team welcomed back Rex Williamson, who had missed the second half of the regular season and the District Tournament due to a knee injury.

"What a difference-maker," Coach Costin said of Williamson. "He showed us exactly how valuable he is to our team. He came out and made plays. Scored the ball and played great defense."

He that the coaches may not have been aware of how much Williamson was doing for the team. Williamson even impressed his teammates with his effort.

"After six weeks back, that is not what I expected but he came back fighting," Smith said.

Williamson had 11 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Ben Costin had nine points and four rebounds.

Though Malta won the turnover battle, only giving the ball up six times and taking the ball away 14 times, the Mustangs struggled to score, especially with 6'8" Rhett Reynolds in the paint. Reynolds had four blocks.

"Last night, it was a block party for them," Smith said. "We had to really do work on our outside game and it didn't work."

Malta was 18-of-70 (25.7 percent) from the field, while Shelby was 20-of-39 (51 percent). Shelby made 11 of their 16 (68 percent) free throw attempts, while Malta made six of 14 (42 percent).

"We had effort, but our three-point shots were not falling," Smith said.

The Mustangs bounced back on Friday afternoon, defeating the Cut Bank Wolves 55-36. B. Costin was asked about the team's win and what was key that day.

"Just our team effort," B. Costin said. "We really showed up to play both games but this one we were all there. Shots were falling as well."

The Mustangs were led by Williamson who had 16 points. Oxarart had 13 points and four rebounds. Connor Tuss had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Malta had a five-point lead going into halftime, and the team saw their lead grow by up to 22 points in the fourth quarter. The team shot well from the floor making 24 of their 52 attempts (46 percent). Oxarart had three treys in the game while Williamson had two.

Prior to their clash with Harlem on Saturday morning, Malta had lost to the Wildcats twice in the regular season including a 70-34 beatdown in Malta in late January.

This time around, Malta would outlast the Wildcats and win 59-54. Malta was led by Oxarart who had 29 points. Oxarart knocked down five treys in the win and was 10-of-13 from the charity stripe. Tanner Smith had 15 points, all of which came in the first three quarters and Williamson added 10.

"I thought we played well," Coach Costin said. "We defended well. Offensively, we were aggressive, we made good decisions and we took great shots."

In their season-ending 50-41 loss to Rocky Boy, the Northern Stars jumped out to a 15-9 lead in the first quarter, a deficit that Malta could not fight out of. Rocky Boy knocked down five treys in the first quarter and the Mustangs struggled to score.

"We dug such a hole right away and I just thought we looked a little mentally fatigued more so than physically and we made some bad decisions," Coach Costin said. "We gave up some easy shots and dug a hole."

He added that Rocky Boy had five or six really good offensive basketball players.

B. Costin led Malta with 16 points. He had four three-pointers, three of which fell in the second quarter. Oxarart added 12 points, Smith had seven, Kanyon Stiles had four points, and Williamson had two points.

The Mustangs put together a strong push at the end of the season, despite fighting injuries during and before the tournaments.

"Between Rex, Tanner having to sit a couple of games, it was rare for us to have our regular guys," Coach Costin said. "We just struggled through that all year. Going back to the beginning of the year we lost Cormac (Benn) and Zach Welch. That was two big hits. We battled through things all year long. We always had something to overcome."

Next season, the team will be without seniors B. Costin and Smith who were the team captains this season.

"They are going to be hard to replace," Coach Costin said. "Tanner has got the heart of a warrior. He works hard and is such a gifted athlete. Ben is the same. He is such a good team guy. Anything that we needed, he did. When Rex was down at the point guard, Ben always did what we needed him to do, whether on the offensive or defensive end."

 

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